Tonight Liz and I worked on this video. This sport does not define who she is, but she does enjoy it. JJ and I are very proud of the young woman she is becoming.
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More often than I care to admit, I find myself not sensing the joy and presences of the LORD. When this happens there are 3 things we must do.
- Confess it to the LORD as sin. (John 1:9) Because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross we have not excuse not to experience the joy of the Lord. In John 15 Jesus told his disciples that he had told them “these things” so that his joy would be in them and their joy would be complete. We have access to this joy and it is a sin not to be walking in it.
- Ask for it. (Luke 11:12; Psalm 51). After his sin David asked God to “restore the Joy of your (God’s) salvation.” God will give Good gifts to us as his children and he wants us to walk aware of him and his power. We have not because we ask not.
- Obey. It is better to not feel it and obey than to neither feel or obey. IF we obey we still will get the benefit/fruit of our obedience and God will work through us. Just like Jonah we may not want to, but God will still use us. And hopefully when his fruit comes we will take joy in it and will again sense his presence.
As long as we are in this world and trapped in these bodies we are bound to repeat this cycle. It’s something we must do day by day moment-by-moment if we are to experience him. Where ever you find yourself today Confess, Ask, and Obey and allow the LORD to restore to you his joy. There is NO greater place to be.
TD
2 Timothy 2:2 is a verse that God has always used to remind me of my primary role as a disciple of Christ. In the verse Paul tells the young pastor Timothy, “The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” Paul was reminding Timothy that if the gospel was going t to continue to pass from one generation to the next it would need to be “entrusted to reliable men.”
For the last 15 years God has been allowing me learn through experience what this verse means. As leaders in the church, we often feel it’s our role to meet every need and disciple every person that crosses our path. But precious time can often be wasted when we spend the majority of our time investing in those who prove to not be trustworthy. I also think about the parable of the sower and the seed that ends up being thrown along the path; in short wasted seed.
Last night I was able to look around at a small group of people what wanted to know God, His Gospel, and His plan for them. I knew as we were talking that none of God’s word was being wasted; that it was all falling in fertile soil; that these people were reliable, faithful, and trustworthy. We don’t always know of the front-end who the faithful ones are, but over time, as we live alongside others, God reveals to us the ones he has placed in our life.
Yes we are to love everyone and help them with their physical, spiritual and emotional needs; but we should never lose site that if we are going to be a part of the succession of the gospel, we must be pour our lives into not just any men, but faithful ones.
This week I address the issue of modesty. This is especially challenging for me because I am a man writing about an issue primarily related to women and girls. I do this with a father’s heart and a pastor’s heart, not a spirit of condemnation or judgment. Here we go.
Years ago in my student pastor days, we had a young lady (an active church member) who came to youth group wearing a halter top type shirt with no back to it, just a string holding it together. Several of our leaders said something to the young lady and I received a call from her mother the next day. This church member informed me that the Bible said nothing about how to dress and she was quite upset that her daughter had been judged” by us in the student ministry.
I informed her that the Bible does address the issue of dress and clothing.
Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:9: “I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.”
Look at these words: modestly, decency, propriety, appropriate, worship. Do these come to mind as we think about women’s and girl’s fashions worn by Christians today? I’m afraid we give far too little attention to how we allow our daughters, even our very young ones, to dress. If we as parents allow our daughters to dress in a worldly, revealing manner, we open them to all kind of negative attention. Now I confess you ladies look good to us guys even if you are wearing suit of armor. God has wired women to want to look beautiful and men to admire that beauty. Nothing wrong with that!
Every sin is satan’s perversion of God’s good gifts. This is why we must protect our daughters – because sin is so deceitful and the devil is so crafty.
When I was a young man in high school there were two ways we saw “pretty”
girls: the beautiful ones and the sexy ones. Let’s raise daughters who desire to be beautiful according to God’s standards, not sexy according to the world’s standards. One day our daughter will grow up and get married to some guy who doesn’t deserve her (can I get an amen from all parents here?).
My desire is for her to use modestly, godliness, worshipfulness to attract the kind of man God wants her to have as a husband. A man who will treat her with love and respect and appreciate her for the gift she is rather than as an object to satisfy his lusts and selfish desires. Any good fisherman knows the kind of fish you catch is determined by the type bait you use.
C.J. Mahaney has written a book called Worldliness; in the book there is a chapter on modesty. In that chapter his wife and 3 grown daughters give guidelines to women on specifics of how to live this out (a heart checklist if you will). They are far more qualified than I to address these issues.
I encourage you to read and ponder on this http://kari-motherofthree.blogspot.com/2008/06/modesty-heart-check-carolyn-mahaney.html
Here is a link to C.J.’s blog giving you some of his content related to modesty http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/blogs/cj-mahaney/category/modesty.aspx.
Let me close with this quote from John MacArthur: “How does a woman discern the sometimes fine line between proper dress and dressing to be the center of attention? The answer starts in the intent of the heart. A woman should examine her motives and goals for the way she dresses. Is her intent to show the grace and beauty of womanhood?…. Is it to reveal a humble heart devoted to worshiping God? Or is it to call attention to herself, and flaunt her.beauty? Or worse, to attempt to allure men sexually? A woman who focuses on worshiping God will consider carefully how she is dressed, because her heart will dictate her wardrobe and appearance.”
Quotes for the week:
“I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.” (The Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 2:9)
“A woman who focuses on worshiping God will consider carefully how she is dressed, because her heart will dictate her wardrobe and appearance.” (Pastor John MacArthur)
“Exactly how God combines His providential control with our willing and significant choices, Scripture does not explain to us. But rather than deny one aspect or the other (simply because we cannot explain how both can be true), we should accept both in an attempt to be faithful the teaching of all Scripture.” – Wayne Grudem
This is my position, which doesn’t seem popular among staunch Calvinist or Armenians. It’s both and, not either or.
When Bill Bright (founder of Campus Crusade for Christ) was dying of lung diseases, he would often have periods of agonizing physical pain. With each wave of pain he would say aloud, “I praise you Jesus, Thank You Jesus”. And it was through this gratitude that God brought him into a closer walk with himself as he prepared to ultimately take him to be in his presence eternally.
May we praise him in our trials, for that is what turns the trials into blessings.
If anyone could tell you the shortest way to happiness and wholeness, he would tell you to thank and praise God for everything that happens to you. For it is by this thankful spirit that we turn everything into a blessing. – William Law
I met Ethan Pope back in 1996 when JJ and I began attending Temple Baptist Church in Hattiesburg. Ethan has a heart for God, a heart for people, and a heart for managing money the way God instructs us to in the scriptures. By reading a few of his books, and spending time with him in his office, he helped put me on the way to making some wise financial decisions – namely, not to to live beyond my means.
A few years ago, Ethan relocated back to Dallas and now he as released a book entitled America’s Financial Demise. In short, the same is true for our government that is true for us. We cannot spend more money than we take in. If Ethan’s research is on target, and I believe that it is, we are on an “unsustainable” coarse financially and sooner than later, America’s financial system will crash. If this is true, and again I believe that it is, what we going to do about it?
Take time to order the book, and listen to Ethan’s talk from January. Then prayerfully consider what you should do in response to this timely message.
America’s Financial Demise from Master’s Men on Vimeo.
After almost 12 and a half years we said goodbye to our faithful friend and family member Jake last week. I gave Jake to JJ as a Valentine’s Day gift back in 1999. For most of his life he was very playful and hyper. He enjoyed catching frisbees or balls and then chewing them into little bitty pieces. In the last few years he developed a skin disease and became infected with heart-worms.
Thanks to Dr. Johnny Mayfield for walking our family through the last few days. Last Monday I went in to say goodbye before “Doc” put him down. I came back later and picked him up in a special box and brought him home to explain to the kids what had happened. The kids had a good Idea that it was coming, because we had been discussing and praying about in for several months. Each kid responded differently, but they all dealt with it in their own way. TJ and I took the box Jake was in and with the help of a generous friend buried our loyal friend.
I want to close by posting the lyrics of the song that gave Jake his name. I’m gonna miss you buddy.
“Feed Jake” by Pirates of the Mississippi
I’m standing at the crossroads in life, and I don’t know where to go.
You know you’ve got my heart babe, but my music’s got my soul.
Let me play it one more time, I’ll tell the truth and make it rhyme,
And hope they understand me.
Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I die before I wake, feed Jake, he’s been a good dog,
My best friend right through it all, if I die before I wake,
Feed Jake
A friend recently let me borrow book “In Search of Balance” by Richard A. Swenson. Dr. Swenson,who is a M.D. and a Christian, brings his perspective and research to bear on our current pace of life in our western culture. In short, the pace at which many of us are living is “unsustainable”. This word seems to be coming up a lot lately in relationship to the economy, relationships, and health. To gain insight into our lives we need to ask ourselves (family and friends), “Are we living life at a pace which we will be able to maintain?” Wisdom tells us to look ahead at where we are going, not simply where we are currently. The message of the book is; life is short and we need to make efforts to rest /Sabbath from the demands of our daily life. I’ve found personally when I feel like I “MUST” keep going, it’s a signal for me that I need to STOP. We are not God; therefore he has created us to need rest. To me this is a matter of humility; so let’s humble ourselves and rest.
I just returned from Alabama where I spent 3 days working storm duty for Southern LINC. So much of what I saw reminded me of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina with downed trees. Obviously the most catastrophic damage was the remains that were in the path of the monster tornadoes that came through.
The video below is THE MOST amazing video I’ve ever seen of a major tornado up close. I believe this video was shot out in front of University Mall just off of McFarland Bulvd. It seems that we have devalued the word “awesome” by overusing using it, but this is the true definition of “Awesome” – to install awe (fear).
When he can finally speak, listen to what the camera man says. For once I don’t think the phrase “Oh My God” (OMG) is misused!
